in the limo driver that killed five nurses and details of the cause and the reaction from the driver. a bay area ease mother hopes this 's mother hope this new image can help track her down. this is bay area's news at 7. . it is monday, august 19, i will heather holmes for gasia. this is bay area news at 7:00. here is as life look at dab blow of the hot dry conditions keeping the fire crews on alert. more than 5000 firefighters are battling across the state. happening now at a town hall meeting to address the

closu contra costa. chambers is live right now. >> reporter: right now they're talking about more closures and more reductions ahead. >> >> we want to catch fires early if we can and that's the case here today. >> around 1:15 this afternoon crews respond to a fire. ten minutes later things were ul controlled. >> it is kind of ironic that there is a need to up staff but we are still nowhere near to our normal daily prior to 2011. >> now, up staffing means going from 20 to 24 engine daily.

>> the attack on that is the main sourc funding of the fire department here. >> i have a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old, it is scary that we don't have a fire house close to us. >> you know maybe they can work something out to get it back open, you know what i mean, it takes a lot of stress off of people's mind. >> according to the president of the union of the firefighter in contra costa -- >> we got the schedule when the emergency usually happens and when they occur, i think over all the public is going to lose. >> reporter: the public will have a chance to speak out and there is also two more meetings. there is one in clayton community and both meetings will be happening at 6:30 at night and they're encouraging the public to come out and speak out because these fire

districts protect your area, live in pittsburgh, ktvu channel 2 news. >> that look out post is 4400 feet above santa clara. >> we look for smoke columns, hopefully beginning early on we see them and we try to determine, well, what's the smoke is like, dark or light or is it building or tapering off and we'll study for it for a few seconds and get an estimate reading and we'll radio with morgan hill with the information. >> flight side is said to remain at the look at location until the red flag alert is lifted. thunderstorms around the state, they missed the bay area thus far but if you look at the satellite that i have got up for you, you notice the motion is coming this way and

the clouds are rotating around the center offshore here, what i am tracking and what i am interested here, you see this area right here coming out of fresno, it is something like this and it can bring us through southern santa clara valley. the red flag warning stays into effect until wednesday morning, the next ten minutes when i come back, we'll be talking about tomorrow, it is going to be slightly cooler tomorrow, we had 104 in livermore today and we'll take a look at the five days forecast. we'll see you after the break. the investigation of the limousine fire that killed the five women in the wedding party. the mechanical problem ignited the fire and says there is no criminal ch will be file.

>> to come to contact with the floor pan. investigators say the contact caused friction and heat which ignited the car. the utility commission is fining the operator for carrying one more passenger. chp also found that the limo driver was not on the cell phone during the accident as previously reported. eric spoke to him this afternoon and found out why he may still face a legal battle. >> limo driver rickey brown was not celebrated. >> you know everyday is painful and every minute is painful. >> he moved out of the bay area and has not driven a limo since the incident of killing the five women.

>> i don't feel vindicated because i there, okay? and i mean i was not on the phone. >> not on the phone when the limo started burning. brown's wife says he was distracted when the incident happen. >> brown has moved to the sacramento area and has been receiving counsel l brown expects them to. >> i am hurting just like they are and i feel sorry that this happened. >> many of the women in the limo once worked here in the nursing home and many of the sooif survivors and the family members -- to tell them there would be no criminal charges. in oakland eric rasmussen ktvu

channel 2 news. >> and they're not surprised by the khp's conclusion. they hope the findings will result in improve safety. >> double check the car and the management and they have the opportunity to go over the car. >> let the mechanic mcdonough. echanic. >> the highway patrol also released the 911 calls from the scene of the fire and we listened and found it disturbing and decided not to air it. you can go the our website and look for the link of the top story tab on www.ktvu.com police are looking for a man who tried to set a homeless person on

fire. our police say no one ever reported to them, the san francisco's police says robbery and aggravated assault in the mission and they say arrests are also up. one of the bay area's best known cold cases is back in this news tonight of the disappearance of the 27-year-old girl named garcia, today would have been amber's 33rd birthday. today kim says she never believe the 2009 confession of the death row, he claimed to have killed amber but died before he can take a polygraph test >> as long as we found nothing negative, we have not found any bones and we should proceed if if she's still out there and we should be still looking for her. >> kim says she found new hope

and the of the story o f the three women in cleveland being free after they survived the abuse. attorney bury announced the suit filed by lester chambers of the chambers brother. he accused the attacker, burris called the attack racially motivated and it cause significant injuries to the 73-year-old performer. andrew potter tells investigators that she suffers a stress disorder and that a repetitive part of the song caused her to snap. you can go to www.ktvu.com to see what the singer says

about in that incident. investigators say a car carrying five people on the track when it was broadsided. the train was traveling about 40 miles per hour and was sounding its horns and investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol was a factor. the four people killed ranges from age 118-21. napa county is showing a warning tonight of a secret shopper scan. two napa residents were sharing fake cashier's check. the secret shopper is a legitimate shopping research company. it says anyone receiving something similar should do the same. a violent weekend has oakland police beeping up its efforts to try to keep the streets safe and the arrest of

one shooting that involved several employees at the salon. and what biologists are plan to do with the body. the hit disney tv show found dead in his home, and details of what authorities have uncovered.

san francisco's police stepped up traffic patrol near schools today and thousands of students returned to classrooms. in the morning when aarriving and then again when they get out this afternoon. the speed limit is 15 miles per hour, the enforcement is set to continue

tom go to ktvu.com for special tips of back to school. . the latest figure shows in california more than 5600 preschool children were denied of the spot of the program this fall. more than 57000. oakland police had their hands full this weekend, a dozen of people shot. pritchett reports today of the arrest. >> you will be on your way. >> reporter: to king was here on saturday when it happened. >> they shot nine rounds of bullets. it was crazy. it was -- i thought i was in the

battlefield. >> police say it was this man. ward who after running away returning to a scene a half hour later. >> there goes the guy that stole my purse out of the car. >> king's co-worker confronted the suspect again here on the the sidewalk. >> and as soon as they went outside, it was gunfire. >> i never experienced anything like that. >> his three workers were shot and a fourth woman grazed by a bullet. there were 12 shootings in oakland over the weekend, three people dead and two of those fatalities at a party friday night where four people shot. >> it was a tragic weekend with the number of shootings. >> he says public's help on the telegraph incident was vital. >> we are going to be here and we are not going to go nowhere and we are open for business.

>> reporter: as for the three barber shop employees who were shot, king says they're all in the hospital and are expected to be okay. in oakland ken pritchett ktvu channel 2 news . authorities say lee thompson young took his own life in los angeles, they found his body. the 29-year-old actor is the former disney star of the famous jet jackson. he was a brilliant actor with a wonderful soul. that was the word today for the center of disease control and preventions, the cdc estimates 300, 000 has the illness each year. it can be a disable ling illness.

starting this week samsung is expected to rolling out the big screen phone. the galaxy mega will be sold by at&t beginning friday. sprint is said to offer the phone later on this year. it is the same hardware of the galaxy four but on a bigger screen. the galaxy mega has been available over seas. the dow drops 70 points and nasdaq fell at 13. they need to do more to plan against potential crisis in the future. today of the america's cup challenge series on the san francisco's bay. and could not finish the race t. two races were scheduled for today because of high winds but today's second race was

cancelled also because of the wind. new leading the series of two races to 1. a young whale washed ashore and died. our dave stephenson reports now of what made this unshlusual. >> we ran back to the house and we came back. >> beach goers called the fire department - it was too late, this video shows the final movement before it died at about 9:00 this morning. >> it was struggling and it was a very sad event. >> i've lived here for 49 years and i have never seen a live whale on the beach before. >> it somehow became separated from h its mother. >> all the large whales are

extremely well and danger so it is rare to see a fin whale of any type. >> small crowds watch as crews attach the cable from the whale, at one point the cable snapped and the cat ways weighs 15 to-20 pounds. there is very little that it can be done. >> once these whales on the beach, there is no hope for them to get them back out into the water. >> this is the fifth large whale stranding this year that the marine mammals have responded to. it will be bury here near the spot where it died. david stephenson ktvu channel 2 news. >> it is warmer out there. it is going to be warmer? >> it is really hot today. the red flag warming on top of our p mind, it

stays in effect until wednesday. it is going to be warm tomorrow and some areas are cooled down a little bit. here is what we are tracking right now and the area what i am watching, and look at the track on this thing, it is tracking just south of in the monterey area, you see this line of showers and the thunderstorms moving off to the west. so we are looking for that chance for thunder showers tonight of all the moistures coming from the east and moves out towards the west. it is an unusual direction, is it? it is not what we usually get. we head for wednesday, a chance thunder shower. we are tracking it closely and the main concern is the dry lightning. the next round of system is moistures. if there is lightning it will be some rain too, that helps a

little. as oppose to what we had today. it is slightly cooler because of the cloud covers. it sat there and gave us the chance of thunder shower and we did see it off of the coastline. if it shifts tomorrow a little further south, it brings us a better shot and some activity, so we'll be tracking it for you, and not just for tuesday but on wednesday as well. it is a difficult system to track. west contra costa, you guys started up tomorrow, and san pablo, lunchtime at 78 degrees, cloudy and kind of muggy and kind of feels like san diego. 75 in richmond and east bay 93 and antioch 95 so it is still hot there. around the bays 70s and lows 80s and in the

coast we'll have some fog. heather, i will see you tonight at 10:00. >> all right, thank you bill. firefighters are seeing some dry thunderstorms and some rain where the american fire is burning. a key objective is reached today. crews say that's important because they don't want the fire to cross the american river. the fire grew slowly today and is now burned 15, 000 acres. tonight the fire is 53% contained. full containment is not expectee end of the month. today witnesses say he barely escape with his life on an la freeway. the candle stick about a blow out that blows out the stadium and why one former beetle may want to rekindle history. look at 'em.

living on cloud nine with that u-verse wireless receiver. you see in my day, when my mom was repainting the house, you couldn't just set up a tv in the basement. i mean, come on! nope. we could only watch tv in the rooms that had a tv outlet. yeah if we wanted to watch tv someplace else, we'd have to go to my aunt sally's. have you ever sat on a plastic covered couch? [ kids cheering ] you're missing a good game over here. those kids wouldn't have lasted one day in our shoes. [ male announcer ] switch and add a wireless receiver. get u-verse tv for $19 a month for 2 years with qualifying bundles rethink possible.

lake tahoe is -- under the regional planning regency. and a newly updated giving the county more control of the future

development. governor brown is being -- dick van bike do you like -- burning on side of 101. van dyke says at first he had a flat tire. he says the man said he thoith he fainted. >> there was a fireman and a nurse and a cop that just happened to be passing by. >> van dyke did not need medical attention and as for his car it is a loss. >> san francisco's mayor tel -- the beetles performed there of the last concert

back in 1966. mccartney did a show of the stadium before it was ever torn down. while performing out side land. thank you so much for making us your choice of news, i am heather holmes and stay with us, tmz is up next.

>> today on "tmz" -- >> thomas gibson in a hot tub and this f.b.i. agent has a big machine gun. >> that's my water gun just in case. >> he is on "criminal minds" and plays an f.b.i. agent. he got catfished worst than i have ever seen. >> worse than manti te'o? >> second worst. >> mel gibson at the gym. >> when did he get so buff? >> come on, dude. >> he is going to kill all of the jews himself. >> the lindsay lohan/oprah interview, lindsay lohan is still lying about how much cocaine she did. >> i really haven't done it more than 10 times.